Argentina wary of Serbian strikers

15 June 2006 01:51

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Argentina aim to secure their second victory in the Group of Death against a Serbia & Montenegro side that could be heading home if they lose in Gelsenkirchen to Jose Pekermen's outfit.
The Argentinians were involved in one of the games of the opening round of matches when they held on to beat a Didier Drogba-inspired Ivory Coast 2-1 while Serbia & Montenegro caused Holland some difficulties before eventually losing 1-0.
Argentina picked up no new injury problems against Ivory Coast but Pekerman has opted to bring in Luis Gonzalez in place of Esteban Cambiasso.
Roberto Ayala is determined not to under-estimate Friday's opponents, saying: "They have good players and that defeat (against Holland) will motivate them to go forward more, looking for a good result.
"Savo Milosevic and Mateja Kezman are two forwards that complement each other very well.
"When they attack through the channels they become stronger and we must control that."
Serbia & Montenegro have problems in defence as Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic is out for the rest of the tournament after injuring knee ligaments in a training session on Monday while Dusan Petkovic withdrew from the squad just before the start of the World Cup Finals.
Igor Duljaj is likely to start at right-back and Ognjen Koroman on the right wing while Nenad Djordjevic may be replaced after struggling against the Dutch.
Serbia & Montenegro midfielder Albert Nadj is aware his team face a tough task if they are to beat Argentina, saying: "We know what we have to do and every player is aware just how difficult our task is.
"Argentina are a top-class team with an abundance of talent in their ranks but we will go out there to face the music and try to come out on top."